For integrated circuits such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), for example, the size and height of the structures, for example, may be of importance. Chips can be implemented for example in mobile devices, e.g. in a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or the like. Furthermore, the procedure for designing integrated circuits should also take account of economic factors, for example, such as the costs and/or the suitability for mass production, for example. On account of complex structures conventionally used, MEMS components may be very expensive to produce or not producible at all with a sufficiently high yield in mass production.
For the targeted generation of infrared (IR) radiation, e.g. as an emitter in a remote control, in a smartphone, etc., it is possible to use an infrared LED, for example. The infrared LED can conventionally be designed in such a way that it emits an infrared radiation having a wavelength of 840 nm to 950 nm. In contrast to infrared LEDs, it is also possible to use thermal radiators for emitting infrared radiation, wherein said thermal radiators can be operated continuously or in a pulsed manner. Thermal radiators emit a continuous wavelength spectrum. In the ideal case, the wavelength-dependent intensity of the thermally emitted radiation (referred to as black-body radiation) for different temperatures can be designed by means of Planck's radiation law. Bodies at a temperature of less than a few thousand kelvins substantially emit electromagnetic radiation in the infrared wavelength range, e.g. in the wavelength range of approximately 1 mm to approximately 780 nm.
In order to emit a defined wavelength range by means of a thermal emitter, it is possible to use for example an infrared filter, e.g. a bandpass filter. By means of the infrared filter, a predefined wavelength range can be selected from the continuous thermally generated radiation spectrum.